英语专业考研语言学复习资料 句法学资料

Chapter 4：Syntax

I. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False:

1. Syntax is a subfied of linguistics that studies the sentence structure of language, including the combination of morphemes into words.

2.Grammatical sentences are formed following a set of syntactic rules.

3. Sentences are composed of sequence of words arranged in a simple linear order, with one adding onto another following a simple arithmetic logic.

4.Universally found in the grammars of all human languages, syntactic rules that comprise the system of internalized linguistic knowledge of a language speaker are known as linguistic competence.

5. The syntactic rules of any language are finite in number, but there is no limit to the number of sentences native speakers of that language are able to produce and comprehend.

6. In a complex sentence, the two clauses hold unequal status, one subordinating the other.

7. Constituents that can be substituted for one another without loss of grammaticality belong to the same syntactic category.

8. Minor lexical categories are open because these categories are not fixed and new members are allowed for.

9. In English syntactic analysis, four phrasal categories are commonly recognized and discussed, namely, noun phrase, verb phrase, infinitive phrase, and auxiliary phrase.

10. In English the subject usually precedes the verb and the direct object usually follows the verb.

11.What is actually internalized in the mind of a native speaker is a complete list of words and phrases rather than grammatical knowledge.

12. A noun phrase must contain a noun, but other elements are optional.

13. It is believed that phrase structure rules, with the insertion of the lexicon, generate sentences at the level of D-structure.

14. WH-movement is obligatory in English which changes a sentence from affirmative to interrogative.

II. Fill in each of the following blanks with one word which begins with the letter given:

15. A s________ sentence consists of a single clause which contains a subject and a predicate and stands alone as its own sentence.

16.  A s______ is a structurally independent unit that usually comprises a number of words to form a complete statement, question or command.

17. A s______ may be a noun or a noun phrase in a sentence that usually precedes the predicate.

18. The part of a sentence which comprises a finite verb or a verb phrase and which says something about the subject is grammatically called p_________.

19. A c_________ sentence contains two, or more, clauses, one of which is incorporated into the other.

20. In the complex sentence, the incorporated or subordinate clause is normally called an e_______ clause.

21. Major lexical categories are o___ categories in the sense that new words are constantly added.

22. A _____ Condition on case assignment states that a case assignor and a case recipient should stay adjacent to each other.

23. P_______ are syntactic options of UG that allow general principles to operate in one way or another and contribute to significant linguistic variations between and among natural languages.

24. The theory of C_____condition explains the fact that noun phrases appear only in subject and object positions.

III. There are four given choices for each statement below. Mark the choice that can best complete the statement:

25.  A sentence is considered ____ when it does not conform to the grammatical knowledge in the mind of native speakers.

A. right B. wrong

C. grammatical D. ungrammatical

26.  A __________ in the embedded clause refers to the introductory word that introduces the embedded clause.

A. coordinator B. particle C. preposition D. subordinator

27. Phrase structure rules have ____ properties.

27.  A. recursive B. grammatical

C. social D. functional

28. Phrase structure rules allow us to better understand _____________.

A.  how words and phrases form sentences.

B.   what constitutes the grammaticality of strings of words

C.  how people produce and recognize possible sentences

D.  All of the above.

29. Syntactic movement is dictated by rules traditionally called ________.

      A.  transformational rules

B.   generative rules

C.  phrase structure rules

D.  x-bar theory

30. The theory of case condition accounts for the fact that __________.

A.   noun phrases appear only in subject and object positions.

B.   noun phrases can be used to modify another noun phrase

C.   noun phrase can be used in adverbial positions

D.   noun phrase can be moved to any place if necessary.

31. The sentence structure is ________.

A. only linear B. Only hierarchical

C. complex D. both linear and hierarchical  

32. The syntactic rules of any language are ____ in number.

A. large B. small C. finite D. infinite  

33. The ________ rules are the rules that group words and phrases to form grammatical sentences.

A. lexical B. morphological

C. linguistic D. combinational

34._______ rules may change the syntactic representation of a sentence.

A. Generative B. Transformational

C. X-bar D. Phrase structure  

IV. Define the following terms:

35. syntax 36. Sentence 37. coordinate sentence 38. syntactic categories

39. grammatical relations 40. linguistic competence 41. transformational rules

42. D-structure

V. Answer the following questions:

43.  What are the basic components of a sentence?

44.  What are the major types of sentences? Illustrate them with examples.

45.  Are the elements in a sentence linearly structured? Why?

46.  What are the advantages of using tree diagrams in the analysis of sentence structures?

47.  What is NP movement. Illustrate it with examples.

I.  Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False:

l.F 2.T 3.F 4.T 5.T 6.T 7.T 8.F 9.F 10.T 11.F 12.T 13.T 14.T

II. Fill in each of the following blanks with one word which begins with the letter given:

15. simple, 16. sentence 17. subject 18. predicate 19. complex 20.embedded 21. open 22.adjacency 23.Parameters 24.Case

III. There are four given choices for each statement below. Mark the choice that can best complete the statement:

25. D 26. D 27. A 28. D 29. A 30. A

31. D 32. C 33. D 34. B

IV. Define the following terms:

35.  syntax: Syntax is a subfield of linguistics. It studies the sentence structure of language. It consists of a set of abstract rules that allow words to be combined with other words to form grammatical sentences.

36.  Sentence: A sentence is a structurally independent unit that usually comprises a number of words to form a complete statement, question or command. Normally, a sentence consists of at least a subject and a predicate which contains a finite verb or a verb phrase.

37.  coordinate sentence: A coordinate sentence contains two clauses joined by a linking word called coordinating conjunction, such as "and", "but", "or".

38.  syntactic categories: Apart from sentences and clauses, a syntactic category usually refers to a word (called a lexical category) or a phrase ( called a phrasal category) that performs a particular grammatical function.

39. grammatical relations: The structural and logical functional relations of constituents are called grammatical relations. The grammatical relations of a sentence concern the way each noun phrase in the sentence relates to the verb. In many cases, grammatical relations in fact refer to who does what to whom .

40. linguistic competence: Universally found in the grammars of all human languages, syntactic rules comprise the system of internalized linguistic knowledge of a language speaker known as linguistic competence.

41. Transformational rules: Transformational rules are the rules that transform one sentence type into another type.

42. D-structure: D- structure is the level of syntactic representation that exists before movement takes place. Phrase structure rules, with the insertion of the lexicon, generate sentences at the level of D-structure.

V. Answer the following questions:

43.  What are the basic components of a sentence?

Normally, a sentence consists of at least a subject and its predicate which contains a finite verb or a verb phrase.

44.  What are the major types of sentences? Illustrate them with examples.

Traditionally, there are three major types of sentences. They are simple sentence, coordinate( compound) sentence, and complex sentence. A simple sentence consists of a single clause which contains a subject and a predicate and stands alone as its own sentence, for example:

John reads extensively.

A coordinate sentence contains two clauses joined by a linking word that is called coordinating conjunction, such as "and", "but", "or". For example:

John is reading a linguistic book, and Mary is preparing

for her history exam.

A complex sentence contains two, or more, clauses, one of which is incorporated into the other. The two clauses in a complex sentence do not have equal status, one is subordinate to the other. For example:

Before John gave her a lecture, Mary showed no interest in linguistics.

45.  Are the elements in a sentence linearly structured? Why?

No. Language is both linearly and hierarchically structured. When a sentence is uttered or written down, the words of the sentence are produced one after another in a sequence. A closer examination of a sentence shows that a sentence is not composed of sequence of words arranged in a simple linear order with one adding onto another following a simple arithmetic logic. In fact, sentences are also hierarchically structured. They are organized by grouping together words of the same syntactic category, such as noun phrase (NP) or verb phrase (VP), as can be seen from the following tree diagram:

S

NP VP

Det N Vt NP

Det N

The boy likes the music.

46. What are the advantages of using tree diagrams in the analysis of sentence structures?

The tree diagram can not only reveal a linear order, but also a hierarchical structure that groups words into structural constituents. It can, in addition, show the syntactic category of each structural constituent, thus it is believed to most truthfully illustrate the constituent relationship among linguistic elements.

47. What is NP movement. Illustrate it with examples.

NP movement involves the movement of a noun phrase. NP-movement occurs when, for example, a sentence changes from the active voice to the passive voice:

(A) The man beat the child.

(B). The child was beaten by the man.

B is the result of the movement of the noun phrases "the man" and "the child" from their original positions in (A) to new positions. That is, "the man" is postposed to the right and "the child" is preposed to the left.

Not all instances of NP-movement, however, are related to changing a sentence from the active voice to the passive voice. For example:

(C) It seems they are quite fit for the job.

(D) They seem quite fit for the job.

These sentences are identical in meaning, but different in their superficial syntactic representations. It is believed that they have the same underlying structure, but (27b) is the result of an NP movement.

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